Cawley Partners CEO Bets Heavy On Office In Down Year, Acquires Sabre Corporate Office

Cawley Partners and Staubach Capital continue to bank on the Dallas-Fort Worth value-add office market with the recent purchase of the Sabre Global corporate headquarters in Southlake.

The firms purchased the two-building, 475K SF campus as the coronavirus pandemic is reshaping how companies utilize office assets.

Cawley Partners CEO Bill Cawley said DFW assets have one major thing going for them in this time of transition: their presence in North Texas as businesses across the U.S. look to relocate to the area in the post-pandemic world.

"People have been moving to Texas for 15 years, but I am a big believer that post-COVID when the market turns back on, people will move here in greater numbers than they have in the past," Cawley said. "What we are trying to do is to give a great option of a large block of space close to the airport to somebody coming in from out of town or someone who is growing locally."

Sabre entered into a 12-year lease for the 265K SF Building A on its former campus and agreed to a short, 210K SF lease inside Building B, according to the purchasers. The entirety of Building B will be available for lease by 2022.

"We need to reposition the vacant building to create some identity because they were both built at the same time," Cawley told Bisnow. "We are going to do some amenities and reposition it to create a better presence in the lobby. The plan is to go in and renovate the building, and then go lease it whether it be multi-tenant or one big tenant."

Plans to renovate Building B include the addition of meeting rooms, a fitness center, locker rooms, a food service area and outdoor gathering spaces.  

Cawley has remained committed to the office segment in DFW while the coronavirus has interrupted the space, making commitments to both value-add and ground-up builds in 2020. Cawley Partners announced a 500K SF office-centric development in The Colony two months ago.

And in early 2020, the firm had a slew of office buildings heading into the construction phase. 

"We broke ground on three build-to-suits right before COVID, within a couple of months before COVID hit," Cawley said. "I am bullish on office in Dallas in the next year and 18 months. I believe if you have a good asset in the right location: I am very bullish."

The two assets just acquired by Cawley Partners and Staubach Capital are located at 3120 and 3150 Sabre Drive in Southlake.